To gain valuable shop knowledge and field repair skills and meet other KTM riders in your area why don't you try a shop day at your place.

Get a few cases of beers and pizzas and invite seasoned KTM Adventure owners to your place who are willing to show you the most basic repairs and things like tire tube removal and install (needed for adventure rides in the bush).

If you are reasonably mechanically inclined, you can do a lot of the work. The hardest part of working on your bike or car is troubleshooting the problem. If you are doing maintenance, or pre-emptive work, there is no troubleshooting. You will know what you are doing. Jusy follow the directions. Get a service manual and check out the H.O.W. All wrenching is is removing bolts and putting them back on. Stay organized, take pictures, if you don't know, ask. The Orange Crush is an AMAZING resource and ADVRider is the most helpful clan I have ever come across. You can do it. Is is very rewarding, and sometimes even fun. Yeah, you will have bleeding knuckles from time to time. Sure you will want to throw parts across the garage, or go wild with a mallet. But there are also times when you have a beer in hand, tunes on the hi-fi, and everything is just in the groove. All the world fades off and it is you, your bike, the smell of grease and metal, and an intimacy known only to those who wrench.

similar customer service issue with my bike. Got it with 17k on the odo. took it in for the big service and when they went to adjust the valves they saw the cams pitting and chunking. ktm wouldnt cover it even though it has only had motorx oil and always serviced on time. the kicker was they knew that there was a bad casting on 04' and older cams.

IMO the adventure is a DIY bike. Getting the thing serviced costs an arm and a leg. Doing it yourself makes the bike pretty cheap on maintenance, especially when u take it offroad.
As soon as i got mine i did all the TSB's that i could find, just to make sure it would not fail on me. Water reservoir was filled with casting sand while there was 37 000km on the clock.... :\

The starter torque limiter is a TSB issue for 2005.5. I have a problem in that the closest KTM dealer is light years away. Will KTM ship the part to the owner directly? I guess I'll call and find out.

I know the local KTM dealer owner personally and the parts manager too... they won't give me TSB parts to work on my bike/s and I would say that I know LC8s better than any of their techs..... Your experience may vary.